Chicago – Matt Murton got the call to come back from the minors less than a week ago and already he has helped the Chicago Cubs climb into first place.
Murton raced home on Brett Myers’ bases-loaded wild pitch in the ninth inning Wednesday night, sending the Cubs to a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies and lifting them to the top of the NL Central.
The Cubs, who were 8 1/2 games behind on June 23, finally overtook the Milwaukee Brewers – at least for a day. Chicago’s win, coupled with the New York Mets’ 8-5 win at Milwaukee, left the Cubs a percentage point ahead of the Brewers.
“You can’t make too much out of it on the first of August,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. “We’ve got a lot of baseball to play. We can’t get caught up in it.”
BRAVES 12, ASTROS 3 at Atlanta: Mark Teixeira hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs in his Atlanta debut Wednesday night, leading the Braves to a 12-3 victory over the Houston Astros.
Teixeira, acquired from Texas in a seven-player trade Tuesday, drew a bases-loaded walk in the first inning to drive in a run in his first plate appearance.
After Houston reliever Matt Albers walked Edgar Renteria and Chipper Jones in the sixth inning, Teixeira hit a 2-1 pitch over the wall in left-center field for his first homer with the Braves and his 14th overall.
NATIONALS 7, REDS 2 at Washington: Ejected from his big-league debut last week after hitting consecutive batters, John Lannan took a shutout into the sixth inning, and Washington roughed up Bronson Arroyo.
Lannan got plenty of support from the majors’ lowest-scoring offense. Arroyo (4-12) was lifted after allowing seven runs in just 1 2/3 innings, the shortest start of his eight-year career.
PIRATES 15, CARDINALS 1 at Pittsburgh: Ronny Paulino quieted some booing hometown fans with a grand slam during Pittsburgh’s five-run first inning.
METS 8, BREWERS 5 at Milwaukee: New York pounced on Claudio Vargas early, hitting two three-run homers against Milwaukee.
Mets left-hander Oliver Perez (10-6) gave up five runs – four earned – in the first two innings, but settled down to record a season-high 11 strikeouts.
